United, Aer Lingus announce transatlantic partnership

Aer Lingus and United Airlines announced creation of a transatlantic partnership intended to "capitalize on the growth opportunities presented by the [EU-US] open skies agreement. . .by opening new transatlantic nonstop services." First joint route will be a daily Madrid-Washington Dulles service scheduled to launch in March 2010. EI and UA said it is "intended" that they will share equally commercial and operating benefits and risks, with EI managing operations and UA managing revenue ...